Museum of Russian dessert in Zvenigorod: exhibits, Russian sweets, ancient Russian recipes

Finding free museums in our time is not an easy task. It is not surprising that last year almost all of Ekaterinburg's population gathered to look at a three-meter heart weighing 50 kilograms . This exposition was available within a day, after which delicacies from European and domestic manufacturers were sold to citizens.

And would you like to know what sweets the people in Russia spoiled themselves on holidays? What were the Russian gingerbread cooks from? What traditions of tea drinking existed among Slavic tribes? Answers to these and other questions can be found in the city of Zvenigorod. It is in this suburban town located the most delicious, cozy and fascinating museum.

He appeared only 2 years ago thanks to the artist Tatiana Feina and her talented team. The author's handwriting of the founder can be seen in every millimeter: starting with pictures with appetizing stories and ending with original lamps and old kitchen utensils.

Russian Dessert Museum in Zvenigorod

It is located in a mansion built in the late 19th century, which is on the list of cultural heritage sites. Once the building belonged to the merchant Fokina, who traded goods for petty shops: tea, flour, sugar. Maybe, that's why the tea-dessert exposition looks very organic in the museum.

First Hall

To date, the museum collection is in two halls. Along the walls there are ancient cupboards. The decorated shelves are filled with antique saucepans, desserts, sweets, dried herbs, cooking recipes and explanations to them.

In total, the Russian Dessert Museum has three dozen buffets, so there is practically no wall here. The ceilings are decorated with cozy and colored lampshades. And on the walls free from cupboards, the paintings painted by the founder of the museum flaunt.

In this same room, there are amazing and unique instruments, whose appearance makes it difficult to guess their real purpose. For example, there is a wooden guillotine in front of you, but in fact it is a copy of the juicer of those times.

Second Hall

Here, most of the space is occupied by a Russian stove. In fact, she has 2 purposes: heating the room and cooking baking in the master classes.

From the furniture only painted chairs with tables. Special attention should be paid to the hilarious slogans of the museum. For example: "The best bees work for us".

Future plans

According to the founder, 3 more interesting compositions will soon open:

1. "On the Russian furnace."
2. "On how to organize the trade of sweets."
3. "About treats."

The construction of a two-tier stove is already coming to an end, in which desserts and sweets will be baked for sale in a brand-new shop. Now there trade products from friendly producers.

Authenticity of recipes

In this topic, you can not doubt: once a week, employees on the schedule spend a whole day in the Lenin Library, where they study culinary archives. But for the preparation of old Russian sweets is absolutely not necessarily the presence of a stove. Many free museums of desserts, including Zvenigorodsky, not only offer recipes, but also adapt them for modern conditions, that is, using a gas stove.

As it turned out, the management's approach is scientific, but the supply is democratic. For comparison: in the museum of the Kolomna pastille excursions are more like a theatrical performance, and in Zvenigorod you will not see anyone in the crinolines.

Local Features

Despite such a young age, the Museum of Russian dessert is quite popular. Therefore, it is advisable to book master classes and excursions in advance.

In the store at the museum, anyone can buy herbal tea, coffee and, of course, sweets prepared according to traditional recipes and without adding artificial colors and preservatives. For example, Russian gingerbread is supplying production from the Tula region. Also here you can find sweets from the Smolensk region and a small Moscow food company.

Each tour ends with a fragrant cup of tea and a gingerbread.

As for the master classes, they suit both for adults and for children. Here you will learn how to prepare dough for pies on leaven, a lamb oven, disclose the secrets of preparing desserts without sugar, and also explain the meaning and history of the appearance of many Old Russian expressions, for example, "reach the handle."

As a souvenir for friends or for yourself, you can buy brochures with recipes. Is not it interesting to cook historical sweets and desserts yourself in your kitchen?

Cost of visit and opening hours

Admission is free, but the tour of the museum is carried out for a fee. On weekdays the cost of an adult ticket is 300 rubles, for a child (up to 12 years) - 200 rubles. At the weekend to buy a ticket will have to 100 rubles more.

The Russian Dessert Museum is open daily from 10 am to 8 pm, without days off and holidays.

Reviving traditions: ancient Russian recipes for desserts

As you know, Russian merchants had close ties with the Arab countries. It is no coincidence that the first popular pasta candy has so far been compared to eastern rahat-lukum. True, the main ingredients of Russian dessert were apples and honey. In the 15th century, protein was added to make white sweets sweet. The secret of the Kolomna pastilla (by the way, the most delicious) until a certain time was kept in strictest confidence, while the French confectioners did not think of adding apple pulp to it. In the end, it turned out to be a well-known and favorite delicacy - marshmallow.

In the same period, Russian confectioners decide to replace honey with sugar, and this is the recipe used in the manufacture of pastilles to this day.

For preparation you will need:

• 0.5 kg of apple puree;
• 170 g. Granulated sugar;
• 1 protein;
• powdered sugar.

Technology of preparation:

1. Mix the prepared mashed potatoes with sugar.
2. Add the protein and start whipping. To get the required volume and white shade, it takes 5-7 minutes.
3. The resulting mass is spread in a thickness of 3 cm on the parchment laid in advance.
4. Turn on the oven and set the mode to 70 ^o C.
5. Place the baking sheet in the oven and dry the sweetness for at least 5 hours. Sometimes it takes about 8.

Remove the ready-made paste from the paper, sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve it in chopped form.

Russian gingerbread. They were made from a mixture of flour and honey with the addition of berry juice. But they got the name "gingerbread" a little later. After the spices appeared in the recipe from India. The most famous carrot is Tula. It looks like a rectangular tile with a filling.

"Bird's milk" - perhaps the best Russian delicacy and the first cake, received a patent in the days of socialism. He was invented by several confectioners under the guidance of the talented head of one of the Moscow restaurants, Vladimir Gulnik.

Baked apple. Russia is a northern country, therefore the quantity of fruit cultivated here is minimal. So the basis for desserts was often apples. Indigenous Russians were considered to be acid varieties, but talented culinary specialists found a way to turn them into a sweet treat. First, the apples were soaked in syrups and berry broths. Then the cores were cut from the fruit, they were filled with sweet stuffing and baked. As a result, it turned out not only a sweet, but also a useful dish. In baked apples there is a lot of potassium and iron, so they were advised to use it for weight loss and for various diets.

Few people know, but the category "Russian sweets" can be attributed and the famous cake "Prague". According to the recipe, it resembles "Sacher". The author of the dessert was the Russian confectioner Vladimir Guralnik, who studied at the beginning of his career with the Czechoslovak colleagues. To make his cake, he used 4 types of cream, which included cognac and liqueurs, and cakes impregnated with rum. By the way, the Austrian prototype has no cream at all. But unfortunately, the cake "Prague" was not patented at the time, and now any factory has the right to prepare it.

Another representative of native Russian sweets is a cheesecake. Perhaps, this is the most primitive dessert, which appeared in the times of the ancient Slavic tribes. To prepare the cheesecake, yeast dough was required, from which small cakes were molded. The center of the product was slightly pressed down and filled with cottage cheese, jam or jam.

Conclusion

Despite the simplicity of the presented recipes, these Russian sweets are still in great demand and often flash on store shelves. If the pastille and cake "Prague" can be found in the confectionery department, the cheesecakes are sold exclusively in bakery.